Foreign exchange reserves of Moldova will constitute USD 700 mln

President of Moldova Vladimir Voronin expressed his hope that by the end of the year, the record sum of USD 700 mln will be accumulated in the foreign exchange reserves of Moldova. “We started in 2001 with USD 54 mln, and now it is obvious that we should tend to USD 1 bln or even to figures equal to the total volume of imports, so that the national currency would be stable, and the inflation and interest rates could be controlled”, Voronin stated According to the official data, the assets of the National Bank of Moldova (BNM) constituted MDL 200 mln as on September 30, the Reserve fund – MDL 319.175 mln, the obligations – about MDL 12.7 bln, including monetary obligations – 9.2 bln. A an amendment bill to the Law on the National Bank of Moldova, which is due to be passed by the Parliament, stipulates that BNM will create and maintain a statutory capital (the total of the authorized capital and the general reserve fund) constituting 10% of the total of monetary obligations, reflected in the balance sheet of the BNM at the end of the financial year. The bill stipulates that BNM’s profit available for distribution is to be allocated in a 50% proportion for the continuous increase of the statutory capital, till its size attains at the end of the financial year 10 % of the total of BNM’s monetary obligations. The remaining balance is to be transferred to the income of the state budget in a 15-day term after presentation of the information by the external auditor on the financial report of BNM. The statutory capital of BNM will have a dynamic size, permanently correlated with the variations of the BNM monetary obligations level at the end of the financial administration year. In the structure of the statutory, the authorized capital will occupy 1/3, and the general reserve fund - 2/3. This type of structure is based on the requirements of prudence, by which it is guaranteed that the central bank holds a credible and sufficient source for covering potential losses - the Reserve Fund, but at the same time has the authorized capital, which actually represents the maximum limit up to which BNM is able cover by itself the loses of the administration period, resulted from operating its basic activity. The assistance accorded by the IMF to Moldova goes to the BNM in order to increase national foreign currency reserves. On December 15, after the Meeting of Donors on Moldova in Brussels, IMF Board decided to augment the loan intended for Moldova from USD 120 mln to USD 167 mln. Thus, the second instalment of the PRGF credit concluded for a 3-year period and approved on May 5, 2006, will constitute USD 48.2 mln. As many as USD 17.2 mln have been disbursed to date.